"We confirm it," a navy official told AFP when asked about the capture of three marines reported by Dutch daily De Telegraaf.

The paper said the three marines were helping with the evacuation from Sirte of two civilians, one Dutch and another European, in a helicopter that crashed.

The marines were attacked by armed men loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi who captured them. The two civilians were handed over by the Libyans to the Dutch embassy and have since left Libya, according to De Telegraaf.